


Tell Me All About It

by Once a Bard (bossyluigi)



Category: One Piece
Genre: Buff Usopp because yes please, Denial of Feelings, Especially at night under the sea, I love the aesthetic of the lower levels being dimly lit despite it being the workshops, M/M, Post-Timeskip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-18 07:47:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28614600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bossyluigi/pseuds/Once%20a%20Bard
Summary: "Tell me about what you’ve been up to for the last two years. If it was anything like my time dodging thirty-foot-long snaking vines with thorns as long as my leg then I’m all ears!”A sudden grip took hold of the blonde's chest, constricting his breathing for only a moment before easing back into some semblance of comfort. “You wouldn’t want to hear all that.”---------------------------------------------It's been two years since the Strawhats last set sail and now that they're coming home, it would make sense to exchange stories, right?While Usopp is more than happy to talk about his adventures in the Boin Islands, Sanji isn't so sure he's ready to be reminded of the things he discovered about himself in Kamabakka.
Relationships: Usopp & Vinsmoke Sanji, Usopp/Vinsmoke Sanji
Kudos: 54





	Tell Me All About It

**Author's Note:**

> Important Information at the end!

There was nothing quite like the feeling of being home. Whether that was the crow’s nest, the cramped workshops of the ship’s underbelly, or the comfort of the bunks, there was still an essence of familiarity that had been missing for the last two years. The wafting smells from the kitchen through to the lounge and the plumes of steam that burst free of the baths held all the comforts the crew had been without. 

“It feels good to finally be back.” 

It was the first time Usopp had been back in his workshop since last arriving at Sabaody and the reunion was quick to draw emotion. A satchel stuffed with what felt like an entire garden found its new place atop a wooden bench by the door. He’d be planting them once they reached the ocean’s surface again. For now, he’d take to watching over them as well as the depths of the sea would allow. 

The sniper had plenty of new tricks up his sleeve to explore. Hopefully, the Sunny was ready to take them all on. In fact, everything seemed untouched and in perfect condition. The stories of the struggles that took place to keep the Sunny afloat had truly paid off. She was just as together as she was when they first docked. 

“You must’ve had a pretty thrilling two years, right Sunny?” Usopp chuckled, collapsing back onto a few cushions he’d piled on a stool. A bit of dust kicked up, but they were still as comfortable as he remembered. “I’ll have to tell you all about my time on the Boin Islands! You won’t believe a word of it, but I assure you it’s all real this time!” 

As his eyes scanned the room, the thoughts of how to upgrade his workstation chugged along like a train just beginning to depart the station. It might not be a bad idea to work on some sort of greenhouse if access to the sun wasn’t guaranteed. A few things would need to be moved, but he had enough space for a small plot in the corner. 

With a bit of a bounce, he hopped up from his stool. If he slid one box of miscellaneous parts behind a barrel of gunpowder then maybe-- it was a bit of a squeeze, but he’d make it work. In fact, he already had a few spare pieces of pipe to outline this ‘would-be’ greenhouse. 

Frantically, he dug into a separate box, sifting through random bits he’d nicked in Water 7. He could’ve sworn there were pipes in there somewhere. 

Oddly shaped chunks of steel and long strips of sheet metal dropped to the floor at his feet, creating more of a mess than before. It was easier to chalk it up to a stroke of inspiration as opposed to his unique brand of chaos. 

“I know I had pipes in here somewhere!” 

“Pipes? What do you need pipes for?” 

A sudden voice spoke up from the doorway, causing the sniper to jump back in surprise, trip on a few of the stray pieces of junk, and collapse unceremoniously to the floor. The figure in the door sighed, placing a cup of tea on the bench next to Usopp’s satchel. 

“Do I even want to know?” 

His eyes traveled from the tea to the individual who placed it. The brow curling in the low lamplight was clearly Sanji. What he was doing down in the workshop was the bigger mystery. 

“You could’ve knocked!” Usopp spat in a fit of embarrassment. “I could’ve broken my neck!” 

“You would have broken your neck whether I walked in or not. We’ve only been back for a day and you’ve already trashed the place.” The cook strode across the room, taking the other by the suspenders to tug him back onto his feet, however, it took a bit more upper body strength than Sanji had expected. As much as he couldn’t believe it, Usopp had put on a bit of muscle weight during the past two years. “You alright?” 

He would have dusted himself off, but then he wouldn’t have truly been home. What was a bit of dust, dirt, and grease here and there? “Yeah, I’m good. You want to tell me what you’re doing sneaking around down here?” 

“I wasn’t sneaking around. I was bringing you some tea, but I can easily take it back up with me if you’re going to be ungrateful--” 

“Who said anything about being ungrateful? I was just asking a question.” When he finally stepped over the junk piled on the floor, a hot cup of fresh tea awaited him. It steamed with a flowery aroma, something he’d almost forgotten existed outside of the dangerous plants inhabiting the forests of the Boin Islands. While the memories remained, he was able to quickly find comfort in its scent and taste. “You wouldn’t believe how long I’ve gone without a nice cup of tea.” 

“Oh yeah? They didn’t serve tea where you were?”

He took another sip, shaking his head as he did. A hearty sigh pushed past his lips once he’d downed a good quarter of the drink. “No way! You were lucky if you managed to get a drink of fresh water without fearing for your life!” 

The chef’s curled brow cocked in disbelief. Knowing Usopp, his statements tended to stretch the truth to an absurd length. That’s how it had been for as long as he had known the guy. Still, the look in the other’s eye seemed pretty honest, like he didn’t have to reach to piece a story together. Maybe he was telling the truth. 

“You had to get fresh water some way or another. Did you have any help?” The frame of the workshop door caught him as he leaned back. “You couldn’t have known that when you first got there, right?” 

Usopp nodded, “I only met one other person on the Boin Islands. He ended up training me and helping me get back to Sabaody.” He motioned towards the scrap scattered about. “He taught me how to grow and take care of some of the plants native to the archipelago. I’m trying to see if I can put together some kind of greenhouse down here to use until we make it back to the ocean’s surface.” With a nervous chuckle, he pushed a few pieces of metal sheeting off to the side. “Not sure if it’ll work, but it doesn’t hurt to give it a shot.” 

The blonde eyed the scrap. He wasn’t familiar with botany, but he knew enough to know that a room in the bowels of the ship wouldn’t yield much of anything without getting creative. “I’m probably the last person to ask for any kind of gardening advice, but I’ll gladly wish you good luck. That’s the best I can do.” 

“Eh, it’s alright.” He forced a tired smile. It was his project after all. Besides, if he needed anything significantly altered, fashioned, or constructed, he could always talk to Franky. He spent most of his time next door if he wasn’t up on the main deck manning the steering wheel or checking if everything was in order. “Why don't you stick around while I try to find these pipes. Tell me about what you’ve been up to for the last two years. If it was anything like my time dodging thirty-foot-long snaking vines with thorns as long as my leg then I’m all ears!” 

A sudden grip took hold of the blonde's chest, constricting his breathing for only a moment before easing back into some semblance of comfort. “You wouldn’t want to hear all that.” 

“Try me!” 

“No, really… why don’t you tell me more about those vines or some man-eating flowers or something.” It must have been embarrassingly obvious that he was trying to avoid that particular line of questioning, but Usopp was too oblivious for his own good sometimes. 

“Come on, it can’t be that bad. You weren’t by yourself or stranded in a place without a decent kitchen, were you?” 

There was no winning. Sanji ran a hand down the length of his face. He couldn’t revisit the things he had been put through, especially the things he’d learned about himself in addition to the Ninety-Nine Vital Recipes from the masters of Newkama Kenpo. The easiest way for him to deal with the self-discovery, especially now that some of his very fears were staring him in the face, was to bury it. 

“It’s… a long story. I’ll tell you all about it some other time, but I have to go make sure the ladies are doing alright with their tea.” He barely waited for a response before turning to head out. “I’ll come back and get your cup later. Don’t worry about it.” 

He wasn’t even halfway to the upper levels of the ship when he realized just how pathetic he was being. He’d shut Usopp down within seconds of the mere memory of Kamabakka. Was it the embarrassment of spending hours a day run from the forceful citizens all draining him of his sanity? Was it the exhausting and repetitive nature that each of the ninety-nine masters presented while locked in combat? Was it that each night he’d actually sit down and think about who he was? It could’ve been all three and more, but right now, it just looked like he was running away. 

He’d done his fair share of running already. 

In fact, it was one of the things he’d often thought about throughout the past two years. What did he run from and why was he so hellbent on running from it? 

Emporio Ivankov often spoke openly about the reason why people came to Kamabakka: either to escape or to explore. He didn’t feel like he fit either since he was sent there by force, but something about both resonated with him. He’d escaped his family, he’d escaped death numerous times, and now he was exploring the world with hopes of making it to the All Blue. Both escaping death and exploring the world naturally would have placed him on that island, but it wasn’t for the reasons everyone there thought-- or was it? 

It was no coincidence that Kamabakka was home to the 99 Vital Recipes and it was certainly no coincidence that he had managed to find himself there. Perhaps it was no stretch of the imagination that he was there for reasons beyond those as well. 

Instead of checking in on Nami and Robin, the chef settled at the kitchen table to bury his head in his hands. It wasn’t that he was upset at Usopp for bringing it up, no, far from it. He was upset with himself. It had been two years. He was positive he’d gotten himself figured out. Why did it take one mention of their separation to make him feel his chest caving in? 

As usual, the easiest cure for this particular ailment was to bury it. He’d do whatever necessary to ensure he didn’t think about it, didn’t regard it, and didn’t get distracted by it. 

It was all a fool’s hope. 

With every dish he washed and dried, he couldn’t help but think of how cowardly he was.

Where was the issue with talking about the ninety-nine Newkama Kenpo masters? Where was the issue with talking about how flamboyant, open, and unique they were? Where was the issue with letting go of his idea of what kind of man he was supposed to be in exchange for the man he had to become? 

He’d been one version of ‘Sanji’ for so long that the idea of allowing a new ‘Sanji’ to take his place was more terrifying than anything. However, looking at how everyone around him had changed without changing inspired him to take up his teachings with pride. Hell, Franky was less human and more machine, the moss head had lost an eye and Usopp-- it was easy to see how much he had _gained_ during his training. 

With a shake of his head, he snapped back to reality, at least, as well as he could. He'd been washing dishes for the better part of an hour, but there were still dishes he had yet to clean, including Usopp’s cup of tea. 

It had been a little while since he last delivered it. Who knows, maybe he finished it along with his makeshift greenhouse. A part of him was curious to see the progress anyway, so it was the perfect excuse to head back down to the lower levels of the Sunny. 

Instead of waltzing in like before, he opted for knocking. A quick rap on the doorframe should've been enough to get the other’s attention. 

Or… not? 

Compared to the regular sounds of construction and tinkering from the workshop, Sanji was met with silence. Either something had gone terribly wrong and he was lying unconscious on the floor, or he had decided to go to bed for the night. He wouldn’t have been too surprised with either. 

Cautiously, he pressed onward, cracking the door just enough to peer in. 

The lights were still on and things still seemed to be scattered around the room, but instead of a missing person or a body lying unconscious, he was surprised to see the cushions from the corner of the room spread like a makeshift futon on the floor amidst the junk. 

He’d slipped out of his suspenders at some point while he was working despite his pants hanging a little lower on his hips because of it. He’d hung his hat along with his satchel on a newly installed hook over by one of his workbenches that wasn't there earlier. 

The supposed greenhouse was a little more than a few pieces of metal pipe welded together into a rectangle to form a base and some strips of sheet metal to create a container within it. He’d begun to hang some kind of lighting fixture but without a way to simulate sunlight, he was at a loss. The discarded scraps of paper in the trash bin documented the many instances of trial and error that had resulted in him falling asleep on the floor. 

Despite the past two years of trials and tribulations, there was still a serenity to the way Usopp slept that made everything feel like a bad dream. Maybe they had taken two years off to enjoy each others’ company. It could’ve happened. They could’ve watched each other grow and mature alongside one another. It would have been nice to be at that dinner table each evening again. That was one of the things Sanji had missed the most during his time away and looked forward to returning to. 

As quietly as he was able, he crossed the room, plucking a folded blanket kept atop one of the many untouched boxes to cover the other with. The chill of the ocean depths was a mistress unlike the sea breeze at the water's surface. She had her own ways chilling the crew to the bone-- easier for some than others.

He wasn’t looking for a thank you or an acknowledgment of what he had done. In fact, he hoped this random act of kindness was kept between the two of them. 

While his time at Kamabakka Kingdom spurred the conversation within himself about who he was and who he wanted to be, there was still a bit left he had to truly come to terms with. If that meant expressing those changes in little ways like fixing cups of tea, listening to long-winded conversations about certain kinds of venus flytraps, or even catching glances every now and again from behind the stove, then so be it. He had a soft spot in his heart for the guy. 

It only took two years to really acknowledge it. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there! Since 2021 is finally here, I want to try harder to post more stuff. Whether it's chapters, short pieces, oneshots, drabbles, all that good stuff, I'm going to try and get it up so you can read it! 
> 
> I also have a Twitter account now dedicated to this account and the fics I'm posting here. I know I talked about it in the notes of Sandman, but I'm going to be advertising it more. 
> 
> If you want to follow progress and ideas and discuss fics with me, you can find me over @onceabard on Twitter! 
> 
> Thanks, everyone!


End file.
